NAMM 2008 Editors’ Top Picks!
Dying to know what was the coolest gear at the NAMM show? You're in luck, as
Keyboard editors and contributors were everywhere at the Anaheim Convention
Center this past weekend, and they've uploaded tons of videos, photos, and
blogs about what they did, saw, and most importantly, what they heard. Want
to see Stevie Wonder wailing on the new Rhodes? Joey DeFrancesco grooving on
the new Diversi clonewheel? It's all here, and more, as we had editors from
Guitar Player, Bass Player, and EQ magazines working the show, too! Below
are some of the coolest things they found, arranged by editor. You can see
and hear more by clicking
here
and
here
!
Ernie Rideout
Arturia Origin and Analog Factory Experience
Expertly demoed by Stephane Deriau-Reine, these virtual synths cover the high end and the affordable end of virtual analog synthesis.
Source Audio Hot Hands
Daniela Marquez waves her hand and magic happens – literally! This wireless controller slips on to your finger and the effect unit base station translates your hand movements into modulation effects.
Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizer
This handy monitor stand solves two problems: it eliminates resonant coupling by floating your monitors on foam, yet its heavy metal top layer prevents speaker recoil, which means more of the monitor’s energy gets projected where it’s intended: your ears. Clever as all heck.
Peavey ReValver mkIII Guitar Amp Simulator Software
This is great amp modeling software, really first-class. But even more, it lets you design your own amp models, with the most amazing visual interface. You won’t believe it!
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
The next big thing from Spectrasonics won’t be available until later this Fall. But the preview we got of it makes us thing that this might be the synth we’ve all wanted, forever.
Yamaha KX Controllers
The KX is back, combining a USB interface with tons of programmable controllers. It’s got that great Yamaha action, and it comes with a boatload of software.
Stephen Fortner
Kurzweil PC3X
Though it was announced last year, Kurzweil showed off a fully-cooked PC3X at NAMM ’08, and it was well worth the wait. The acoustic pianos and vintage keys sounds are nothing short of amazing, and in addition to all the sample-based stuff, it’s got a monster analog-modeling synth (based on the never-released VA-1). There’s something really special about the way the PC3X makes you want to play . . . and play and play and play.
Euphonix Artist Series
After getting up close and trying both the MC Mix ($999.99) and MC Artist ($1,499.99) motorized DAW control surfaces, we thought they work so elegantly that they’re bound to expand the number of people who can’t live without a hardware control surface for their DAW.
Roland Fantom-G
If incremental feature-adds and leapfrogging has been giving you “workstation fatigue,” the Fantom-G series (88 weighted keys, $3,999; 76 keys, $3,349; 61 keys, $2,899) ups the ante by several orders of magnitude. Its sequencer features 24 audio tracks as well as 128 MIDI tracks, the 8.5" color screen is clear and gorgeous, and the new ARX sound expansion boards “SuperNatural” behavior modeling helps its best patches handle and sound so much like high-end plug-ins that it’s uncanny.
Korg Kaossilator
Part Kaoss pad, part synth, the Kaossilator ($249.95) lets you play drum loops and pitched phrases from bass lines to synth riffs, just by sliding your finger around on the X-Y pad. With the loop record mode, you can stack up loops to improvise live dance tracks. We dare even the most anti-technology piano snob to pick this up . . . and then just try to put it down.
Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ’08 Module
If you read our review of the Prophet ’08 keyboard in the Nov. ’07 issue, you know how much we love its huge analog sound. Now, all that sound comes in a tabletop/rack module ($1,649). Best of all, with the Prophets’ special “Poly Chain” MIDI jacks, you can cascade multiple keyboards and racks together, and they act like one big synth with more polyphony.
Michael Gallant
METAlliance
The Music Engineering & Technology Alliance was formed by engineer/producers extraordinaire Ed Cherney, Frank Filipetti, George Massenburg, Phil ***e, Elliot Scheiner, and Al Schmitt. The alliance seeks to test and certify audio and music production equipment in order to establish a rigorous standard for sound quality in gear; with this kind of pedigree, they just might succeed in this ambitious endeavor.
Fazioli M. Liminal piano
This instrument responds beautifully, has one of the richest sounds I’ve heard, and looks like a mix between a concert grand and the Starship Enterprise. Herbie Hancock used that very piano for a photo on his new Joni Mitchell tribute album.
Tom Brislin
Groove Tubes Spacestation MK2
Weighing in at only 35 pounds, the Spacestation MK2 delivers stereo amplification from a very portable single cabinet. This looks to be an ultra-portable solution for gigging with digital pianos whose sounds benefit greatly from running in stereo.
Sonic Reality Ocean Way Drums
A huge library of drums recorded by A-list engineers in an A-list studio. Dave Kerzner's finger-drumming demonstration demonstrated the stunning realism of this collection.
Garritan Authorized Steinway and Sons Virtual Model D
The only virtual piano that Steinway puts their name on, and with good reason. Steinway was heavily involved in the making of this library, which includes over seven sound perspectives (player, audience, and under-lid, for example). The sound? It’s a Steinway.
Synthogy Ivory Upright Pianos
A collection of fantastic-sounding uprights, including parlor piano, tack piano, and a Yamaha destined to find its way into many recording projects.
Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano version 2.0
Art Vista updates their Virtual Grand Piano with full Mac/Intel compatibility, a new interface, and preset velocity curves optimized for a variety of MIDI controller keyboards. The Virtual Grand Piano v.2.0 also offers preset EQ styles based on classic players and recordings (you can call up Bill Evans, Bobby Timmons, Arthur Rubenstein, and Elton John, for example).
BBE Two Timer
Inspired by the long-gone Boss DM-2, the Two Timer features two independent delay times, which are foot switchable. Real bucket brigade analog delay at around 200 bucks? Yes, please.
Francisc Preve
MOTU Digital Performer 6, and more
MOTU demoed a major upgrade to DP at NAMM. In addition to interface tweaks and lots of workflow amenities, three things caught my attention. First off, soft synths can now be pre-rendered, which is a lot like freezing but completely transparent to the end-user, freeing up tons of CPU. The new ProVerb Convolution Reverb comes standard and is much more interactive than competing products. You can adjust pretty much everything except for the impulse itself in real-time – and drag any audio file directly onto the plug-in for utter sonic madness. For me, the cherry on the sundae is the Masterworks Leveler, an LA-2A emulation that to my ears sounds better and is more flexible than other LA-2A emulators. Their new Electric Keys virtual instrument contains just about every EP every imagined, too.
Waldorf Blofeld
So good to see Waldorf kicking butt and taking names again. At least two of my big-name producer buddies have these on backorder and with good reason. It’s basically a $700 Micro Q that fits in a backback. And it sounds absolutely gorgeous, truly a PPG for the new millennia.
John Bowen Solaris
Normally, I don’t comment on unreleased products, but when the designer is John Bowen (of Sequential Circuits, Korg and Creamware fame), it’s impossible to remain calm. When the $4,000 Solaris ships later this year, it will be a Mercedes-class virtual analog synth with amazing depth and character, along with a killer user interface. I heard it with my own ears and believe me, it rocks.
Richard Leiter
Earthworks PianoMic System
This clever and easy-to-configure stereo piano mic system sounds amazingly good. Check out video explaining how it works
here
and
here
.
Shure Wireless Workbench Software
The wireless interface scans all the frequencies in your venue: TV, radio, anything at all, and assigns the unused frequencies to all your wireless mics.
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3
These noise-cancelling earbuds are the best I’ve seen.
Robbie Gennet
IK Multimedia Sample Moog
I got to test drive this virtual synth numerous times and really enjoyed it! The sounds are realistic and clean, the interface is easy to use, and the inspiration factor is high. I like how you can combine different Moogs together and make them mono or poly regardless of how they were originally configured.
Cakewalk Sonar 7
Cakewalk has moved forward in light years with Sonar to make a 64 bit DAW that holds its own in a competitive market, and then some. Add to that the Rapture and Dimension soft synths and you have an incredible package for any studio. One of the most intuitive programs to get from inspiration to final product with the least resistance.
Propellerhead Reason 4.1
I admit I am a Reason freak and each new version just kills. The new Thor synth, the new sequencer, and the RPG-8 arpeggiator will keep me studio-bound for weeks! Great product that is so easy to use and gets great sounding results.
Eric Lawson
Diversi DV-Duo and DV-Solo, Motion Sound MS360
Diversi is a relatively new name in the clonewheel niche and the organs they presented at NAMM were stunning. The user interface includes true rocker switches and hefty knobs, like the real thing and features multiple different organ models right out of the box (includes 5 cloned organs). As if the core sound and playing experience did not blow us away, the new “SpectraSound” rotary simulation is flat out UNBELIEVABLE – we heard it through the new Motion Sound MS360, which though it looks like a Leslie, does not contain a rotating horn. As I was testing it out, I felt certain it was hooked up to some kind of spinning speaker as it had a hefty left/right toggle for rotary speed. Once I learned that I was hearing a simulation through stationary speakers, I was speechless. I had a chance to talk to Joey DeFrancesco, who is now using the dual manual version of this organ exclusively. He told me that it is “blowing his mind.”
Vox/Korg Continental
Sitting in an out-of-the-way corner between the Korg and Vox booths was a very intriguing new instrument. It looks like the love child of a CX3 and a Vox Continental. It has the Vox name, along with a chrome Z-stand and looks extremely retro-cool. Korg reports this is a prototype and hint towards a possible future product, perhaps more than just a transistor organ clone (pretty please, Korg?). We did not get to play it since it was a prototype and not fully functional, but the wow factor was extremely high based on its vintage looks alone.
Moog Voyager Old School
The Moog booth was all nice and warm with analog circuits humming and a new member of the Voyager family, the Voyager Old School. This will appeal to anyone familiar with the original Minimoog D and it makes the price of admission for the Voyager sound easier to stomach, particularly for those not on the rock star budget. Priced between the Little Phatty and the Voyager, the Old School features the same real analog oscillators, filters, and controls found on the original Minimoog (with some improvements from the Voyager), minus the digital control of the touch screen, patch memory, and MIDI. The sound is righteous and the interface is authentic to the classic Minimoog. We’re excited that Moog continues to find ways to make that legendary sound more accessible to the masses.
Roland RD700GX
Roland has raised the bar with their newest offering in the pro stage piano market. The RD700GX has the most sublime keyboard action we’ve felt on an instrument like this. Dubbed “Ivory Feel” by Roland, the keys have a textured grain that makes them so much more hospitable than the slick plastic keys that we have been playing all these years. In addition to the stellar keyboard action, the RD700GX also delivers brand new piano samples and their new ARX “SuperNATURAL” modeling for electric piano sounds. SuperNATURAL allows for very intuitive modeling of many EP parameters, such as tine distance, pickup distance, thunk depth and some others. It is entirely possible to create a truly unique EP model with this technology and it is intuitive and not so painful as some other editing chores on other similar instruments.
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